Compact interactive training manikin system

Abstract

A manikin and control system is provided for use by a student practicing a procedure normally applied to the human body, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The system includes a manikin that has an artificial lung into which the student can blow to expand the lung, and a resilient chest which the student can compress. Sensors are provided in the manikin to accurately detect the instantaneous amount of lung expansion and chest compression. An A/D converter converts the sensor signals to digital signals and inputs them to a compact controller based on an inexpensive microcomputer chip which also stores the control program in ROM. Pushbuttons on the controller's front panel enable the student to select any one of a variety of teaching routines prestored in the microcomputer's ROM. The microcomputer then uses lamps on the panel and a speech synthesizer having prerecorded human speech stored in external ROM chips to issue instructions and advice to the student. These are contingent on his preformance of the selected routine as detected by the sensors. However, a prestored interrupt routine always enables the student to switch from the current routine to any other, or to get an immediate repeat of the last message from the system. Transducers are provided for simulating a carotid pulse and shallow breathing in the manikin, and these can be activated by an instructor via remote control using a wireless transmitter and receiver pair.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. Control means for monitoring a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) function including a read-out for lung expansion and chest compression used in a training system including a manikin, said control means including detecting means for detecting the lung expansion and chest compression and generating a data-representing input signal, said read-out comprising a plurality of visible display indicators arranged to form a line simulating a bar graph, and divided into a plurality of groups positioned at respective successive positions along the length of said bar graph, the color of the indicators being uniform within each group, and readily distinguishable from the color of the indicators in each of the other groups for representing a range of lung expansion and chest compression values, and means responsive to the data-representing input signal to activate each individual indicator along the length of the bar graph in succession as the magnitude of the data-representing input signal varies, whereby the read-out indicates both a progression from one to another of the individual values represented by respective indicators and a progression from one color-coded range of values to another. 
     
     
       2. A read-out as in claim 1 wherein one of said groups positioned at one extreme of the bar graph includes a plurality of lamps colored red to indicate a reading which is in a value range located at a dangerous end of a spectrum of possible readings. 
     
     
       3. A read-out as in claim 2 wherein another of said groups positioned prior to said red-colored group in the bar graph includes a plurality of lamps colored green to indicate a reading which is in a value range located in an acceptable region of the spectrum. 
     
     
       4. A read-out as in claim 3 wherein one of said groups positioned at the other extreme of the bar graph includes a plurality of lamps colored yellow to indicate a reading which is in a value range located at an insufficient end of the spectrum.